Posted on 10/16/2002 11:58:54 AM PDT by PhiKapMom
McBride caught up in incendiary scandal
Bush Co-Chair Blasts McBride for Refusing to Condemn Remarks From Supporter Who Compared the Bush Family to Bin Laden and Called the Bush’s “Godless” and “Neo-Nazis”
McBride Says to Judge Him by His Friends, but Again Shows He is Unwilling to Cross His Special Interest Supporters
TALLAHASSEE—Bill McBride often says that Floridians should judge him by his friends. Recently, one of his “friends” made a series of vicious, personal attacks against Gov. Jeb Bush and his entire family, comparing the Bush family to the bin Laden family and calling the Bush’s “neo-Nazis.” When given the chance to condemn the attacks, and show that he is willing, and has the courage, to stand up to those who support him, McBride said nothing, demonstrating once again that he is unwilling to contradict the special interests running and funding his campaign. In fact, McBride has yet to even once take a public position contrary to those of his biggest backer, the teachers union, suggesting that as Governor, he will simply follow their lead.
According to today’s Washington Post, McBride recently appeared on the radio program of former Miami-Dade NAACP chair Rev. Victor Curry. On the air, just before McBride’s interview began, Curry verbally assaulted the Governor and his family, at one point saying that the Bush family and the bin Laden family were business “’partners’ seeking to profit from war.”
“Curry could be heard on monitors around the small building saying that he would support ‘a dog’ rather than Jeb Bush. As for President Bush, he ‘should be impeached—for treason,’” the Post reported. Curry went on to say of the Bush family, “These people are on a neo-Nazi, right-wing mission against the American people.” He concluded calling the Bush administration a “Godless, wicked regime.”
And what was Bill McBride’s response to all of this? Instead of condemning the remarks, McBride instead praised Curry. According to the Post, “Minutes later, McBride’s gentle drawl came over the radio, assuring Curry that, as governor, ‘One of the people I’m going to listen to is you.’ Later, the candidate insisted that he had heard none of Curry’s remarks.”
Even when pressed by the Post about the remarks, McBride refused to condemn or even repudiate them and make clear that he is willing to stand up to the special interests that support him. In fact, McBride dismissed Curry’s comments, simply saying, “’He didn’t say any of that while I was talking to him.’”
“As a Jew, I am offended that Bill McBride would not speak out against such terrible remarks, particularly the references comparing the Bush Administration to neo-Nazis,” stated prominent businessman and Jewish community leader Norman Braman. “McBride has an obligation to set the record straight. He has told us all to judge him by his friends. The eyes and ears of all Floridians are now on Bill McBride to see if he has the courage to condemn these despicable comments from one of his supporters. Until then, his silence is as deafening as it is telling.”
“As a black woman, as an American and a Floridian, and as a Democrat, I am outraged that Bill McBride would sit idly by while one of his supporters so viciously and personally attacks Gov. Bush and his entire family,” stated Bush-Brogan Co-Chair Julia Johnson. “To compare the Bush family to bin Laden, and to call the Bush Administration ‘Godless’ and refer to them as neo-Nazis, is itself despicable and shameful. But for Bill McBride to refuse to repudiate those remarks out of fear of offending one of his special interest supporters is no less than contemptible.
“Bill McBride should immediately and forcefully condemn and repudiate Victor Curry’s attacks,” Johnson continued. “Leadership means that sometimes you have to have the courage to stand up to your friends and supporters and tell them publicly that they are wrong. It’s not always easy to do, but it’s necessary to do as a leader, and certainly as a Governor. McBride should show Floridians that he is not afraid to stand up to the special interests who support him and immediately, publicly and forcefully condemn these comments and apologize to all Floridians for standing silently by and not speaking up on his own.”
OK!
Ping, red!
It's a proven fact that Democrats have more germs.
WooooHOOOOO...MUD
I'm not sure which is a more disgustingly abhorrent foe to proudly--and openly--run against, the Teacher's Unions or the Trial Lawyers...both spread misery and tumult and ignorance wherever they spew their bodacious lies!!
FReegards...MUD
Sorry, Vic; your candidate lost the primary.
ROFL!
I would, but they don't allow people to distribute leaflets in the cemetary.
The RATS are in disarray...eradicate the rodents !!
Fire Democrats, Hire Republicans !!
GWB Is The Man !!
Snuff Saddam, NOW !!
Death To all Tyrant's !!
The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security !!
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!
Molon Labe !!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32140-2002Oct15.html
. . . . He and his wife, a retired bank executive, used to file joint tax returns. Shortly before announcing his bid for governor, they switched to separate returns. As a result, McBride could claim the smallest net worth of any major candidate -- when for all practical purposes he is by far the richest.
McBride lives in a spacious house on 30 lakeside acres outside Tampa, in an area in which a comparable home recently listed for just under $1 million. But in a 1999 speech, McBride said, "I live in a poor area of my state. The only time many of my neighbors see a lawyer is when the lawyer is representing the mobile home park owner evicting them." . . . .
The aw-shucks aura is essential to McBride's canny strategy, which is to make the election all about Bush and never, ever, to let the focus swing around to him. . . .
McBride attacks Jeb Bush for cutting taxes too aggressively. He blames Bush for Florida's budget deficit. He reminds voters that Bush campaigned on promises to improve education and fix the state's troubled foster care system -- and insists that if Bush hasn't delivered results yet, there is no point giving him more time.
But when the subject shifts to his own plans, McBride remains stubbornly fuzzy. "There's no need for me to change what I've been doing," he tells reporters pressing him for position papers.
Take his second-most prominent issue, prescription drug coverage. McBride speaks so warmly about the travails of retirees struggling with rising drug costs that it's easy to miss his bottom line -- it's not a state problem. Though he ridicules Bush's proposal to provide $160 a month to help needy seniors pay for drugs, it is more concrete than McBride's plan, which is to lobby Congress to solve the problem.
On environmental issues, such as offshore oil drilling and Everglades restoration, McBride's positions appear to be the same as Bush's, though it is hard to tell because he often demurs when pressed on specifics.
There is nothing but danger in taking stands, campaign spokesman Alan Stonecipher suggests. Bush would simply use them to "attack Bill."
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